1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to vision systems for vehicles and, more particularly, to vision systems utilizing image capture devices.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Traffic accident or violation takes mere seconds to happen, but weeks, or even months and years, to be,xe2x80x94if it can be at all,xe2x80x94resolved, often unjustly, let alone fatalities, injuries, material and emotional losses, and stresses. So, there is an urgent need not only to avoid an autoaccident or violation as much as possible, but also to prevent misjudging if the accident or violation occurs. To satisfy this need, it is necessary not only real enhancing safety and convenience of driving as first of all, but also reliable and qualitative getting an objective pattern of a traffic accident or violation if it happened.
As a rule, such occurrences dash all of a sudden for a split second, though without witnesses and any records of even a single glimpse of the episode. Such vague situation creates great opportunities for setups, frauds, and injustice. According to the California Department of Insurance, at least 3% of all accidents""claims result from stage-managed collisions (setups). Considering a total tab (repairs, medical bills) of about $200 billion, the setups account for $6.0 billion per year in idemnifications, let alone moral damages, legal and investigation costs, and wasting of valuable materials and labor. Usually, owners of new expensive models become victims, and also the rest of the insured law-abiding motorists because of overall premium increase. National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), supported by more than 1,000 insurers, states that you might be paying about $200 annually in higher premiums for phony claims. The NICB""s tip: carry a disposable camera in your car, and take pictures of the scene after an accident, if you are able. It is clear, to prevent from phony claims and misjudging after an alleged traffic accident/violation, that would be best taking pictures automatically before and during it, but, till lately, there have been no befitting means motorists could use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,843,363 to Michetti (1989), shows the audio-visual videotape recording system mounted in or on a land vehicle to record trip events and driver""s activities forward and rearward simultaneously and show in a television screen during a replay of the video tape. While this system did not suggest at all any application for enhancing the safety of vehicle operation, its inherent drawbacks of low reliability, and very limited durability, and high-cost maintenance, due to the sensitive precise tape recording mechanism with a lot of quickly moving parts, prevent even to the intended use to record the situation around the vehicle for each trip requiring continuous recording for unlimited time of whole life of the vehicle. Since at that time there were no reliable durable means for continuous recording, this problem was not solved before, and the situation in current highways, becoming increasingly crowded with traffic causing more and more accidents/violations, urges the solution to come desperately.
Video cameras in squad cars, sometimes used by the police, cannot make wide use because of the cameras""low reliability, high cost of maintenance, and very limited durability due to their sensitive precise mechanism with fast moving parts. So, they are not good at long permanent use, especially for regular consumers who do not want additional hassles while benefits are not quick and apparent.
Also, to meet the goal of real enhancing traffic safety and convenience of driving, it is essential to eliminate menace and inconvenience of shifting one""s glance from a rear- to a side-view mirror and back, and xe2x80x9cblind spotsxe2x80x9d and limited observation through the side- and rear-view mirrors, especially for trucks, buses, sports utility vehicles, sports cars, and vans. There is an apparent reason the problem of a better rear and side observation has not been solved yet: while permanent increasing the amount, mileage (mobility), and sizes of motor vehicles, especially trucks, vans, and sports utility vehicles, makes traffic more and more heavy, till recently there have been no proper means regular mass consumers could use.
Inferior remedies like conventional convex mirrors can hardly help to enhancing safety, because they dramatically distort a real picture and actual distances thus causing a motorist into dangerous situations.
At night, in darkness, regular mirrors can provide only dazzling reflection of headlights from behind, without the view of details of the picture itself.
Accordingly, several main objects and advantages of our invention are:
avoidance of traffic accidents and violations through significant enhancing safety and convenience of driving by providing a far better rear and side observation including in darkness;
reliable prevention, if an accident/violation occurs, from misjudging, owing to an unbeatable legal evidence through recording the objective pattern of the accident/violation.
Other objects and advantages of our invention are:
ease and convenience to use, learn to use, and to meet service requirements,
simplicity, compactness, soundness, low cost and ease of maintenance, reliability and durability of the equipment because of absence of any moving parts;
operability and compatibility with existing motor vehicles""systems;
reliable, novel, and higher quality results compared to alternative ways of enhancing traffic safety;
profitability, unlimited market size without any legal, climatic, and economic restrictions, and a year-round demand with increasing trend due to the expansion of the field of use for many years to come;
consumer excitement for the high-tech gadget, and a possible high markup;
related product addability because of ushering in a new product line;
market independence because it is useful in its own rights.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description.